Why Is Tow-Truck Driving One of Alabama’s Most Dangerous Jobs?

Why Is Tow-Truck Driving One of Alabama’s Most Dangerous Jobs?

Imagine standing beside a disabled vehicle on Interstate 65 at night. Cars and trucks are passing only a few feet away, some traveling at highway speeds.  You are trying to attach a winch cable, secure a damaged vehicle, or load a car onto a flatbed. Your attention is divided between the equipment you are operating and the traffic approaching behind you.

Then a distracted driver drifts onto the shoulder.

For Alabama tow-truck operators and roadside recovery workers, this is one of the most serious dangers of the job.

Tow-truck drivers face a combination of heavy equipment, unpredictable roadside conditions, and passing motorists who may not slow down or move over.

When an operator is injured, Alabama law may provide more than one avenue for compensation.

Why Is Roadside Recovery Work So Dangerous?

Most workers do not perform their jobs within a few feet of vehicles traveling 70 miles per hour.  Tow-truck operators routinely do.

A recovery job may require the operator to work outside the truck, sometimes on a narrow shoulder or beside a busy intersection.  The dangers include:

• Passing traffic: Distracted, impaired, or speeding motorists may strike an operator or the recovery vehicle.
• Limited visibility: Nighttime calls, rain, fog, and curves can make roadside workers difficult to see.
• Heavy equipment: Winch cables, chains, hydraulic lifts, and vehicle-loading equipment can cause serious injuries.
• Unstable vehicles: A damaged or overturned vehicle may shift unexpectedly during recovery.
• Physical demands: Repeated lifting, bending, pulling, and climbing can contribute to back, shoulder, and other injuries.

The risks are not hypothetical.

According to a 2024 American Automobile Association analysis cited by Alabama’s highway-safety program, 123 roadside assistance providers were killed by passing vehicles nationwide between 2015 and 2021.

Those deaths illustrate why protecting roadside recovery workers is a significant highway-safety issue.

Does Alabama’s Move Over Law Protect Tow-Truck Drivers?

Yes.

Alabama’s John Hubbard Move Over Act, Ala. Code § 32-5A-58.2, expressly protects wreckers displaying amber rotating or flashing lights while performing roadside recovery, loading, or related wrecker services.

The law requires approaching motorists to take specific precautions when it is safe to do so.  On an interstate or another highway with at least two lanes traveling in the same direction, drivers generally must move out of the lane closest to the protected vehicle.

If moving over is unsafe, they must slow to at least 15 miles per hour below the posted speed limit.  On a two-lane road, motorists must move as far away as possible within their lane and reduce their speed as specified by the statute.

For a tow-truck operator standing beside a disabled vehicle, those precautions can mean the difference between a routine recovery and a catastrophic injury.

The law is not limited to police cars and ambulances. It also protects several other categories of roadside workers.

What Happens If a Driver Violates Alabama’s Move Over Law?

A violation can result in criminal penalties.  Under Ala. Code § 32-5A-58.2, a violation that proximately causes a collision with a covered vehicle may carry more serious penalties when someone is injured or killed.

Depending on the consequences, the offense may be classified as a Class A misdemeanor, Class C felony, or Class B felony.

But criminal penalties are only part of the picture.

A driver who negligently strikes a tow-truck operator may also face civil liability for the injuries caused by the collision.

The criminal case and the injured worker’s civil claim are separate proceedings.

An injured operator does not necessarily have to wait for a criminal conviction to pursue compensation.  Likewise, proof of a traffic-law violation does not automatically establish every element of a personal-injury claim. The circumstances of the collision, causation, and any applicable defenses still matter.

Can an Injured Tow-Truck Driver Receive Alabama Workers’ Compensation?

Generally, an employee injured while performing towing or roadside recovery duties may qualify for Alabama workers’ compensation benefits, assuming the employment and injury are covered by the Workers’ Compensation Act.

Workers’ compensation is particularly important because the employee ordinarily does not have to establish that the employer was negligent.  The central question is whether the injury arose out of and occurred in the course of employment.

For example, a tow-truck operator injured while loading a disabled vehicle during an assigned roadside call would ordinarily have a strong factual basis for establishing that the accident occurred during employment.

Depending on the injury and statutory requirements, workers’ compensation benefits may include authorized medical treatment, temporary disability benefits, and compensation for permanent disability; however, workers’ compensation generally does not provide separate damages for pain and suffering.

That limitation becomes important when the injury was caused by a negligent motorist.

Recommended reading: Can I File Both a Workers’ Compensation Claim and a Car Wreck Lawsuit in Alabama?

What Happens If I Am Injured in a Car Accident While Working?

Yes.

This is one of the most important legal issues for tow-truck operators injured by passing motorists.  Consider a driver working for an Alabama towing company who responds to a disabled vehicle on Interstate 20.  While the operator is securing the vehicle, another motorist drives onto the shoulder and strikes the operator.

The injuries may qualify for workers’ compensation because the operator was performing assigned job duties.

At the same time, the negligent motorist may be legally responsible for causing the collision.

Alabama law expressly permits certain injured employees to pursue both claims.  Under Ala. Code § 25-5-11(a), an employee whose work-related injury was caused by a legally responsible third party may pursue workers’ compensation benefits and a separate action against that third party.

The claims serve different purposes.

Workers’ compensation may provide medical treatment and disability benefits under the statutory system.  A third-party personal-injury action may permit recovery of damages unavailable under workers’ compensation, including compensation for physical pain and suffering, when the evidence supports those damages.

An injured tow-truck operator should not assume that receiving workers’ compensation prevents a separate claim against the driver who caused the accident.

Recommended reading: Can I Recover Lost Wages If a Car Wreck Keeps Me From Working in Alabama?

Does the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Company Get Repaid?

Potentially, yes.  Although Alabama law allows an injured employee to pursue both claims, it also establishes reimbursement and credit rights for the employer or workers’ compensation carrier.  Under Ala. Code § 25-5-11, money recovered from a negligent third party can affect the workers’ compensation benefits paid or payable.

The statute also addresses medical-expense subrogation and the allocation of certain attorney fees.

These issues can become complicated, particularly when an injured worker has substantial medical expenses or permanent disability.  For that reason, the two claims should be evaluated together before a third-party settlement is finalized.

A settlement that resolves the car wreck case without properly considering workers’ compensation reimbursement or future-benefit consequences can create avoidable problems.

Recommended reading: Will I Have to Pay Workers Compensation Back If I Settle a Related Personal Injury Claim?

What If the Tow-Truck Operator Was Partly Responsible for the Accident?

Alabama follows a strict contributory-negligence rule in ordinary negligence cases.  Under that rule, conduct by the injured person that legally constitutes contributory negligence and proximately contributes to the injury can bar recovery against the negligent motorist.

An insurance company might argue that a tow-truck operator stood too close to traffic, failed to use available warning equipment, or positioned the recovery vehicle unsafely, but an allegation of unsafe conduct does not automatically establish contributory negligence.

The evidence must be evaluated under Alabama law, including whether the operator failed to exercise reasonable care and whether that failure contributed to the injury.

A tow-truck operator’s work necessarily involves exposure to roadside hazards. Simply being outside the truck near traffic is not, by itself, proof of contributory negligence.  The operator’s conduct, the driver’s actions, visibility, traffic conditions, and the applicable safety requirements may all be important.

The workers’ compensation claim is governed by a different statutory framework and does not automatically fail merely because the third-party negligence claim encounters a contributory-negligence defense.

Recommended Reading: The Insurance Company Says the Accident Was Partly My Fault

What If the Injury Was Caused by Recovery Equipment Instead of a Passing Car?

Not every serious towing injury involves another motorist.  A worker may be injured when a winch cable breaks, a vehicle shifts during loading, or hydraulic equipment malfunctions.

Other injuries may result from repeated heavy lifting and physically demanding recovery work.

When the injury arises out of and in the course of covered employment, workers’ compensation may provide benefits.  A separate claim against an equipment manufacturer, maintenance contractor, or another legally responsible third party may also be possible in appropriate circumstances; however, a product defect or another party’s negligence must be established. The mere fact that equipment caused an injury does not automatically create a third-party lawsuit.

What Evidence Matters After a Roadside Tow-Truck Accident?

Roadside accidents can involve rapidly changing conditions. Vehicles may be moved, debris cleared, and traffic reopened before all relevant evidence is preserved.

Important evidence may include:

• Photographs of the scene, vehicle positions, roadway, and shoulder.
• Police crash reports and witness information.
• Dash-camera, body-camera, or nearby surveillance footage.
• Tow dispatch records identifying the assignment and timing.
• Photographs or records of warning lights, cones, and other safety equipment.
• Medical records documenting the injuries and resulting work restrictions.

When a commercial vehicle is involved, additional electronic or company records may be relevant.  The sooner this evidence is identified, the better the opportunity to preserve it.

What If a Tow-Truck Driver Is Killed While Working?

A fatal roadside collision may give rise to workers’ compensation death-benefit issues and a separate wrongful-death claim against a responsible third party.

Alabama wrongful-death law differs significantly from the law in many other states.  In a qualifying wrongful-death action under Ala. Code § 6-5-410, damages are punitive rather than compensatory.

The relationship between a workers’ compensation death claim and a third-party wrongful-death action requires careful attention to the governing statutes, the proper parties, and the circumstances of the death.

Families should not assume that the workers’ compensation system represents their only potential remedy.

Recommended reading: My Family Member Was Killed in an Alabama Car Wreck. Can I File a Wrongful Death Claim?

Tow-Truck Drivers Deserve Protection on Alabama Roads

Tow-truck operators perform an essential service. They remove damaged vehicles, assist stranded motorists, and help reopen roads after accidents.  But their work frequently places them directly beside moving traffic.

Alabama’s Move Over Act recognizes that danger by requiring motorists to take precautions around roadside recovery vehicles.

When an operator is injured, Alabama workers’ compensation law and personal-injury law may both become important.

Understanding the relationship between those claims can make a substantial difference in protecting the injured worker’s rights.

Talk With an Alabama Lawyer About a Tow-Truck Injury

If you were injured while operating a tow truck, recovering a disabled vehicle, or assisting a motorist on an Alabama roadway, you may have questions about workers’ compensation and a potential claim against another driver.

At Powell & Denny, P.C., we represent injured Alabamians in workers’ compensation and personal-injury matters, including cases involving serious injuries, permanent work restrictions, and disputes over responsibility for an accident-so if you have questions related to a serious injury, don’t hesitate to contact and speak with one of the experienced Alabama Car Wreck attorneys at Powell and Denny today for a free consultation. Appointments are available in person, or virtually via Zoom if more convenient.  Powell and Denny would appreciate the opportunity to help.  And remember, there is no fee unless you win.

Powell & Denny: We Work When You Can’t.